Imagine you are at a theatre and you, and hundreds of other people, have bought tickets to see a production of Hamlet. Unbeknown to you, the three actors who have been picked to play the starring roles have never appeared in Hamlet before and have not rehearsed their parts at all. They were a bit busy with some other things and so just agreed with each other that they would have a quick read through the script the night before, ‘turn up and give it a go and see how it turned out’.

Do you think Shakespeare wrote the entire script from scratch without making any changes to it at all or do you think he re-wrote it several times until it had the impact he wanted it to have? Do you think those actors gave a good performance? Do you think the audience were pleased to have attended? Do you think they recommended other people to go and see the play? What about the critics? Do you think the play had a good write up in the press? Do you think the play ran for long? Do you think those actors were hired by other producers in the future?  Of course not -  the whole performance would have been a total disaster!

Now imagine another scene. This time the actors have been practicing for months. They started off on stage in rehearsals with the scripts in their hands and reading from those scripts. They learned their lines as they practised what they would say, the way they would speak and the expressions and body language they would use. After a while they learned the script by heart so they no longer needed the script any more. Indeed, they no longer felt like they were working from a script at all. They had become the characters in the play.

After months of rehearsals the opening night came. The audience loved the production and gave the actors a standing ovation. The critics loved the play and recommended everyone saw the production. Tickets were sold out months in advance. The actors reputation grew in stature and because of the success of the production, they were able to command much higher fees for future productions.

Are you getting the picture?

Do you think it might be a good idea to start off by working from a script that has been written and rewritten several times until it is as perfect as it can be? Do you think that if you knew precisely what you were going to say and do, that you would feel more comfortable and in control? Do you think that if you rehearsed the script over and over and practised what you would say and how you would say it that you would become more relaxed, more convincing and more likely to make a sale?

Or are you still going to just turn up on the day, give it a go and see how it turns out?

The fact is that when they do say that, they are either:
1 – Telling the truth or
2 – Not telling the truth.

In most cases you have no idea which of those is correct, and even if you do know they are NOT telling the truth, this is NOT the time to become confrontational! So how do you deal with – I have to discuss it with XXXXX when closing a sale.

Taking into account the fact that you have made your sales presentation to this person and you are often unlikely to get the opportunity to present it to this other person or those other persons, your prospect is going to have to make the presentation for you. So the simplest and most effective way I have found to deal with this is to ask a simple question which is:

Will you be recommending you go ahead?

If the answer is ‘yes’, they may well be telling the truth and you need to ask what help and support they need to present your proposals and give them everything they need to sell it for you.

If the answer is NO or I need to think about that, or they just hesitate or waffle, they have not been sold on your product or service and you need to find out what is stopping them from recommending your proposal. When you have identified the reasons and dealt with them satisfactorily, you may well find that they no longer have to discuss it with anyone.

Can you and will you use that approach the next time someone says “I have to discuss it with XXXXX”?

If you are a regular reader of my newsletters, you may recall that in May 2010 I  was rushed into hospital and underwent surgery for a triple heart by pass. Fortunately I survived and I’m probably fitter than ever, but it certainly made me re-evaluate my life. I decided that, more than anything, I wanted to give something back to the Universe that has supported me all these years and particularly, to inspire children to be the very best they can be, irrespective of their circumstances, and to support children’s charities.

As writing is one of my skills and I have in fact been writing books for my Grandchildren for a few years now, the obvious way to inspire children and raise money for charity was to write books for children, have them published and donate the profits to charity. That is what I am doing now in my spare time and under the ‘pen name of Grandpa Super Bear which is the name I am known by to my grandchildren.

The first book has been released. It is titled ‘How To Be A Super Bear – seven stories to inspire children to grow up to be the very best they can be’.  There’s lots more information on my website here so if you have children or know someone who does, please visit the website and have a look around. There is even a live video presentation of the character, Grandpa Super Bear, introducing his book.

See you there Bear!

I remember very well when I was given my first ever business cards. They bore the name and address of my company, my name, and underneath my name the single word ‘Sales’. I knew what my job was and so did my prospects.

A few years later, whilst working with another company, my title was changed and my card bore the title Sales Executive.

A year or so after that it became the norm for the title ‘Sales Executive’ to be replaced with the title ‘Sales Consultant’ and soon after that the word sales was dropped by many companies. In my case I became a Financial Planning Consultant. In my opinion, the moment the word ‘consultant’ was introduced into the salesperson’s title was the moment the rot set in! Salespeople often stopped selling and became consultants and, as you well know, we do not get paid for consulting; we get paid for selling.

To be really clear – I have always believed in the consultative style of selling and to become my client’s most trusted adviser so they would never consider ever working with my competition.  I’ve just never believed in going around doing a lot of unpaid consulting.

1 – going the extra 100 yards would also put you ahead of most of your competition, and

2 – some don’t even go the FIRST 100 yards.

Here is what happened:

I was seriously considering buying a new car for my daughters to use whilst visiting from New York, and for myself as a change from time to time. I had in mind a cute little Italian model and I went on to their manufacturers website to book a test drive.

It was about four days later – yes about 4 days! – when I received a telephone call from an obviously very inexperienced salesperson who asked me when I’d like to book a test drive for. I said the following Monday at 2 pm and asked him to drop me an email confirming that date and their location. I never received the email.

On the Thursday, I got a telephone call from the same person asking why I had missed the appointment that Thursday at 2 pm! Needless to say, he was told a few things about sales and customer service.

Three days later I got a telephone called from the manufacturer’s customer service department. A good call and I explained the challenge I’d had. I was promised a contact from another dealer that day. Of course I didn’t get the call.

One week later I received a letter from the customer service department of that dealer asking if I had enjoyed the visit and the test drive. I got mad and called them. Guess what? There was nobody available in customer services. I left a message with the young lady who answered the telephone and received a call the following day. Not from the head of the customer services who had written to me, but from a junior assistant in another department. She obviously assumed I had a problem because the first thing she asked was ‘what’s the problem’. Maybe problems are all they get to deal with?

I took the time and trouble to explain the bizarre series of events and was promised a call that day to rearrange the test drive.

Two hours later I did receive a call – from the commercial department of the dealership. The call started: “Mr King, I understand you want to buy a truck”. Enough!!! I hung up.

I almost certainly would have bought that car if I got to test drive it; but the whole experience of buying a new car was too stressful and I decided to keep the old one.

The point is – some companies don’t even go the first 100 yards – let alone the extra mile.

How is your customer service – really?

This is a true story…

A man sat in a metro station in Washington DC and started to play the violin; it was a cold January morning. He played six Bach pieces for about 45 minutes. During that time, since it was rush hour, it was calculated that more than two thousand people went past him, most of them on their way to work.

Three minutes after he started playing, a middle aged man noticed there was a musician playing. He slowed his pace and stopped for a few seconds and then hurried by. A minute later, the violinist received his first dollar tip – a woman threw the money in the hat without stopping and continued on her way. A few minutes later, a man leaned against the wall to listen to him, but then looked at his watch and started to walk again. Clearly he was late for work.

The one who paid the most attention was a three year old boy. His mother was rushing him along, but the child stopped to look at the violinist. So the mother nudged the child forward and the child continued to walk – turning his head back all the time. This action was repeated by several other children. All the parents, without exception, forced them to move on.

In the 45 minutes the musician played, only six people stopped and stayed for a while. About twenty gave him money but continued to walk their normal pace. He collected $32. When he finished playing and silence took over, no one noticed it. No one applauded, nor was there any recognition.

No one knew this but the violinist was Joshua Bell, one of the best musicians in the world. He played one of the most intricate pieces ever written, on a violin worth 3.5 million dollars. Two days before his playing in the subway, Joshua Bell sold out at a theater in Boston and the seat price was $100.

Joshua Bell playing incognito in the metro station was organized by the Washington Post as part of a social experiment about perception, taste and priorities of people. The outlines were: in a commonplace environment at an inappropriate hour: Do we perceive beauty? Do we stop to appreciate it? Do we recognize the talent in an unexpected context?

One of the possible conclusions from this experience could be: If we do not have a moment to stop and listen to one of the best musicians in the world playing the best music ever written, how many other things are we missing? Is it because ‘We don’t see things as they are but we see things as WE are.’

So sometimes, it’s OK – NO it’s better NOT to focus on our goals. If you are doing your daily visualisation exercises then your subconscious mind is going to be looking out for opportunities for you to achieve your goals twenty-fours a day. So let it get on with the job it’s been programmed to do and take some time out to appreciate the other wonderful things in our lives.

If you’re not doing your daily visualisation exercises, do get a copy of my book ‘Train Your Brain To Win The Game’, it’s FREE if you subscribe to my newsletter,  and download the visualisation MP3 or order the CD to go with it. And be prepared to be amazed.

When they have completed this first exercise, I then ask them to imagine they are now working for their main competitor and to list their USPs. Usually and after only quite a short period of time, they realise that what they thought were their USPs were in fact no different to those of their competitor’s. In other words they do not have a USP.

The fact is  that in today’s highly competitive world, it’s quite unusual to have a product or service that’s totally unique and has little or no competition. So that blows the whole concept of USP out of the window does it not? Or does it? The clue is in the title of this item. It starts with the word YOU in capital letters. YOU are unique. The way YOU present your product or service can be unique. The care and attention YOU offer your customers and clients can be unique. YOU can make buying from YOU on a one off or ongoing basis a totally unique experience. It’s up to YOU to be your USP.

If selling is the oldest profession, there’s probably not ever likely to be very much that is ‘new’ in sales; therefore most people in the sales profession think they know everything they need to know. Yes I know many sales coaches are saying the old ways of selling are dead but when I look at what most of what they are promoting, they don’t seem a lot different to what I was teaching fifteen years ago and was taught fifteen years before that.

In my view, you probably have heard it all before – one way or another, BUT you’ve probably forgotten most of what you have heard and especially that which you felt uncomfortable with. And you are probably not putting into practice most of what you could be if you could even remember it. That’s one of the many reasons why I frequently tell people attending my Master Classes that it’s my view you haven’t even scratched the surface of what you are really capable of.

I’m also reminded of a few typical comments I hear either before the Master Classes have started or afterwards. Statements such as:

‘I’ve had over twenty-five years sales experience. My boss sent me but I don’t suppose there’s anything new you can teach me’. (I wonder if that is one year’s experience repeated twenty-five times or twenty-five years building on that experience).

‘That reminded me of a few things I used to do that really worked well. I’ll start using them again’. (That’s the lady or gent who is going to ignore everything I taught them that day that might make them feel uncomfortable).

So here are a few questions that I really do hope will make you feel uncomfortable:

When was the last time you read some or all of a book on sales or motivation or a related subject and implemented something you felt uncomfortable with?

If it was not in the last week, you should have – get one and start reading.

When was the last time you listened to a CD or MP3 on sales or motivation or a related subject whilst traveling to an appointment or to and from home to the office and implemented something you felt uncomfortable with?

If it was not in the last week, you should have – get some and start listening.

When was the last time you attended a workshop or seminar on sales or motivation or a related subject and implemented something you felt uncomfortable with? If it was not in the last six months, book on one right away.

Why do you have to do the things that make you uncomfortable? Simply because one huge step across your comfort zone gets you nowhere. One small step outside your comfort zone can work miracles.

For avoidance of doubt, I’m not pushing my own books, CDs or Master Classes. I don’t care whose you read, listen to or attend, just so long as you do and implement that which you feel uncomfortable with, as well of course as that which you do feel comfortable with and are not doing.

It is almost certain that before contacting you or responding to an initial approach from you, prospective customers or clients are going to check out your company and / or you on your website and other places such as Linked In, Facebook etc. According to all the research I have seen, they will almost always look for a picture of you – the person they are likely to be dealing with. It is a critically important factor in their decision making process.  A poor picture is likely to put them off – a good picture can inspire them to make contact – because people buy from people.

I’ve seen many websites with no individual or team pictures, many with very poor pictures and only a few with pictures that really convey  what people should be putting across to prospects to motivate them to make contact or respond to you. Do you have really professional photographs of yourself and your team on your website and social media pages? If not and you think those on my website are a better quality, I’m happy to recommend you to my London based photographers. They are not expensive and really know how to take a great photograph that will work for you.